Algerians donate blood for Gaza victims

An Algerian man gives blood for Palestinians injured in the Gaza Strip, in Algiers, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. Hundreds of people lined streets in Algeria's capital to donate blood for wounded Palestinians in Gaza in a government-sponsored effort. Algerians, like most people in the Arab world, voice outrage at the violence in Gaza that has killed nearly 700 people since Israel attacked the Hamas stronghold 13 days ago. (AP Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)
— AP

An Algerian man gives blood for Palestinians injured in the Gaza Strip, in Algiers, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. Hundreds of people lined streets in Algeria's capital to donate blood for wounded Palestinians in Gaza in a government-sponsored effort. Algerians, like most people in the Arab world, voice outrage at the violence in Gaza that has killed nearly 700 people since Israel attacked the Hamas stronghold 13 days ago. (AP Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)
/ AP

ALGIERS, Algeria 
Hundreds of people lined streets in Algeria's capital Thursday to donate blood for wounded Palestinians in Gaza in a government-sponsored solidarity effort, amid fears Algerian outrage over the violence could spill over at home.

But the government has no estimate of when the blood will reach Gaza, because getting shipments into the Palestinian territory is extremely difficult at the moment.

Algerians, like most people in the Arab world, are angry that nearly 700 people have died since Israel attacked the Hamas stronghold 13 days ago. But Algerian authorities have forbidden large pro-Palestinian demonstrations out of concern they could turn violent in a country that has long battled Islamic extremists.

"We're not allowed to demonstrate, so giving our blood is the least we can do," said Nadia Chefchaoui, a schoolteacher who had been waiting two hours at a mobile blood clinic in central Algiers.

Dr. Kahima Souami, overseeing the blood collection point, said 200 people had come daily since Wednesday when the effort was launched by Algerian Health Minister Said Barkat, who was photographed while donating blood with a Palestinian Keffieh scarf wrapped around his neck.

Souami said four blood clinics, each able to take blood from 200 people a day, had been set up in various Algiers neighborhoods, and they were all full Thursday. "We hadn't expected crowds to be that big," she said.

Souami said each donor gave 450 milliliters of blood, which was then treated at a hospital for shipment. But it was not clear when the blood will reach Palestinians, since the Gaza Strip has been largely cut off by the Israeli offensive.

"I think it depends whether aid can get into Gaza," she said.

Israel says its military campaign in Gaza, which began Dec. 27, is aimed at stopping rocket fire by Hamas militants on Israeli targets.

Algeria has a history of supporting Palestinians, but authorities have appeared uncomfortable giving Hamas too much praise. The group is ideologically close to Algeria's Islamist movements, which battled the secular-leaning government in the 1990s in an insurgency that killed up to 200,000 people.

The donations came amid tight security in Algiers. Local media reported that several students and some Islamist leaders were detained when riot police broke up unauthorized pro-Palestinian protests this week.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia last week denounced the Israeli offensive as a "crime against humanity," but many Algerians have expressed frustration that government support for the Palestinians has remained largely symbolic.

"They're organizing art exhibits and stopping football matches, but that's all," said 18-year-old blood donor Amin Khelouf. The high school student said he didn't mind that Algerian football championships matches were suspended – a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinians – because he was glued to the news channels.

"All I can do is look at the killings live on Al-Jazeera," he said, referring to the pan-Arab satellite TV.